Bugis Horrific Car Crash [12 May 2012]

Hello Everyone,
I am sure that by now, many of you would have heard about the horrific car crash that happened last Saturday morning at Bugis Street. While I didn't gave much thought about it and dismissed it as just another car crash/accident [because car accidents are pretty commonplace in Singapore], I came across the video of the car crash that was uploaded on Youtube and I decided to give my opinion on this matter.

Before going deeper into the subject, here is a 29-seconds video of the car crash that was taken by a Taxi Driver whom had a onboard camera on his vehicle:

Observations I noticed from the video:-

1). 5 seconds after the green light has changed, the Ferrari crashed into the Taxi
2). A person was jaywalking before the "green man" sign was flashed
3). There was no signs/intentions of the Ferrari driver to execute an emergency brake
4). There was a rather innocent insensitive comment made during the last part of the video
5). The Taxi that was crashed into was stationary at the junction before moving off

My personal opinions:-

5 seconds after the green light has changed, the Ferrari crashed into the Taxi. This shows that the Ferrari driver had no intention to stop even though the traffic lights were not in his favour. Having heard some people pinpointing that it was the Taxi Driver's fault for not checking his surroundings and for not slowing down when approaching a junction, I beg to differ. First and foremost, the Taxi was already stationary at the junction. When the green light was flashed, it is only normal that cars that are going straight go straight, cars that are turning left turn left, and cars that are turning right turn right. Even when checking blind spots, every driver only check blind spots when they are filtering to the left or to the right! Nobody checks blind spots when going straight! At most, a driver would check his rear mirror when going straight. So, I seriously detest it when people point their fingers at the deceased Taxi Driver and said that he should have slowed down when approaching a junction. Note that the deceased Taxi Driver was not approaching the junction; rather, he was moving from point A to point B!

The rest of the road users shown in the video should count their blessings; had they travelled the same distance as the deceased Taxi Driver, the consequences could have been worst. I just could not imagine the disaster, had the person who was jaywalking obeyed the traffic rules instead. In addition, there was certainly no signs/intentions of the Ferrari driver to execute an emergency brake. The Ferrari just simply zoomed past and rammed straight into the taxi. Also, I noted that some people actually commented that an insensitive comment was made during the last part of the video. Honestly, I initially felt that the comment was quite insensitive. But after some pondering, I felt that the insensitive comment was quite innocent in a way as well. If we were to put ourselves in the shoes of that person who made the comment, I am sure many of us would have exclaimed pretty loudly and thanked our lucky stars.

Questions to think about:-

Well, many newspaper reported that the Ferrari driver was a foreigner so I do have some unanswered questions.

1). How many foreign drivers were involved in a traffic accident thus far? Is the percentage larger than the locals?
2). How does a foreigner gain qualification to drive on local roads? Is there a driving test of some sort? What about foreigners whom lives in countries that drives on the left side?
3). Many news reported that the road junction at Bugis is an accident-prone area. Are there any study/research being done to implement safety features/measures for users of the road junction?
4). How are the victims being compensated especially since the driver isn't alive to answer to the law?

Well, I totally sympathise with the victims [less the Ferrari driver] in this horrific car accident. For all you road users out there, be mindful/wary of the traffic conditions whenever you use the road. Make sure you look all around before attempting to cross the road.